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EFFECTS OF SOME CULTURAL PRACTICES AND SOME PLANT EXTRACTS ON THE WILT DISEASE OF TOMATO (Lycopersicon esculentum MILL) GROWN IN OWERRI METROPOLIS IN IMO STATE, NIGERIA.
ABSTRACT
The effects of some cultural practices and some plant extracts on wilt disease of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) in Owerri, were studied. The experiments were conducted in 2010, 2011 and 2015 at the Teaching and Research Farm and in the Crop Science and Technology Laboratory of the School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. The investigation consisted of three (3) different experiments and each repeated two times. Experiment one dealt on the effects of some mulching materials and some tomato cultivars on wilt disease of tomato. The design was a 3×4 factorial in randomized complete block design (RCBD) in four (4) replications. Experiment two (2) dealt on the effects of some plant extracts and tomato cultivars on the wilt disease of tomato. The design was a 3×4 factorial in RCBD with three (3) replications. Experiment three (3) studied the effects of plant spacing/ density and inter- cropping on wilt disease of tomato. The design used was a 4×4 factorial in RCBD with 4 replications. Data on growth, flowering, yield, disease incidence and severity on tomato were collected and statistically analysed using Genstat Version 4 analytical software, while the means were separated for difference using Fisher’s Least Significant Difference protocol. Percentage wilt disease incidence was significantly (P<0.05) affected in the 3rd and 5th week after transplanting (WAT) in 2010 and in 6 WAT 2015 due to tomato cultivars. In the 7th week, mulching significantly (P=0.0.5) affected tomato wilt. The wilt incidence was lowest (31.0%) under grass mulch in 7th (WAT) in the 2010 experiment and the wilt severity was also lowest (1.75) at 2 WAT in 2015. Wilt incidence was significantly affected (P<0.05) by interaction between cultivars x plant extracts at 4 WAT in the 2011 experiment, whereas spacing significantly (p<0.05) affected wilt incidence in the last experiment at 2 WAT in 2011 and 8WAT in 2015. In the case of wilt severity, tomato cultivars, spacing, inter cropping, cultivars x mulch interaction, and cultivars x plant extracts interactions, all significantly (p<0.05) affected tomato wilt severity in 2010 and 2011. There was generally a poor yield of the tomato crop in the whole experiments. However, the number of fruits for Rio Grande cultivars significantly (p<0.05) increased at 8 WAT in the first experiment in 2010 and second experiment in 2015. For effective control of tomato wilt ROMA VF cultivars should be grown under grass mulch; Tropimech tomato cultivars should be left unmulched. Also, Ocimum viride ( Basil plant (Nchuanwu)) with its interaction with Tropimech tomato cultivars significantly (P<0.05) reduced the tomato wilt incidence (20.75) to the lowest in the 2011 trial. Spacing distance of 50 x 25cm under the intercrop of soybean/tomato/okra combination significantly (P<0.05) reduced tomato wilt incidence to the lowest (9.5%) in 2011. More attention should be directed on the effect of plant extracts on the tomato wilt disease in future, to determine the effects of specific rates of Basil plant leaves on tomato wilt disease.
Keywords: effects, cultural practices, plant extracts, wilt, disease, tomato
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement s iv
Abstract vi
Table of Contents vii List of Tables xii
n
List of Figures xvi
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Historical Background and Economic Importance of Tomato 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 5
1.3 Justification 7
1.4 Objectives of the Research 8
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 Literature Review 9
2.1 Tomato, Taxonomy and production 9
2.1.1 Field preparation for tomato production 12
2.1.2 Fertilization 13
2.1.3 Staking and Pruning 14
2.1.4 Weed control in Tomato 16
2.2 Economic importance of tomato 18
2.3 Factors affecting nutrients content of fresh tomato 19
2.4 Nutritional and Medicinal importance of tomato 21
2.5 Diseases of Tomato 24
2.5.1 Fungal Diseases of Tomatoes 25
2.5.2 Fungal Vascular Diseases of Tomato 28
2.6.1 The Use of Plant extracts in the Control of Plant Pests and
Diseases 32
2.6.2 Pesticidal Activity of Neem 34
2.7.1 Plant Disease Control Through Plant Spacing 35
2.7.2 Effects of Dense Plant Stands on Diseases 36
2.7.3 Disease control through Crop Density Manipulation 38
2.8 Disease control through Adjusting Time of Planting 40
2.9 Disease control through Mulching 41
2.10 Disease control by Intercropping 43
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 Materials and Methods 50
3.1 Location of the Study Area 50
3.2 History, Climate and Vegetation of the Area 50
3.3 Nursery Work 51
3.4 Isolation of fungi from infected soil and wilt infected Tomato
plant parts 51
3.4.1 Preparation of Potato Dextrose Agar Medium 52
3.4.2 Isolation of Fungi from the Soil 52
3.4.3 Isolation of Fungi from Infected Plant Parts 53
3.5.0 Pathogenicity Test 54
3.6.0 Soil Sampling and Land Preparation 55
3.6.1 Field experiments 56
3.6.2 Experiment 1 56
| 3.6.3 Experimental Design and Treatment Combinations | 56 | ||
| 3.6.4 Transplanting to the experimental Plots | 59 | ||
| 3.6.5 Application of Mulching Materials | 60 | ||
| 3.6.6 Experiment 2 | 60 | ||
| 3.6.7 Preparation of Plant extracts used in the Study | 60 | ||
| 3.6.8 Experimental Design for Experiment 2 | 61 | ||
| 3.6.8.1 Treatment Combinations | 61 | ||
3.6.9 Transplanting of the Tomato Cultivars and Application of
Plant extracts 62
3.7 Experiment 3 63
3.7.1 Experimental Design and Treatment Combinations 64
3.7.2 Transplanting of Tomato Seedlings to the experimental Plots 66
3.7.3 Weeding 66
3.7.4 Insect Pest Control 67
3.8.0 Data Collection 67
3.8.1 Number of Leaves 67
3.8.2 Plant Height 68
3.8.3 Leaf Area (LA) 68
3.8.4 Days to First Flowering 68
3.8.5 Number of Flowers 69
3.8.6 Number of Fruits 69
3.8.7 Fresh Fruit Weight 69
3.8.8 Disease Incidence 69
3.8.9 Disease Severity Assessment 69
3.9 Soil physico-chemical Analysis 71
3.9.1 Textural Class/Mechanical Analysis 71
3.9.2 Soil pH 72
3.9.3 Determination of total Nitrogen 72
3.9.4 Exchangeable Bases 73
3.9.5 Available Phosphorus 73
3.9.6 Organic Carbon 74
3.9.7 Exchangeable Acidity 74
3.9.8 Effective cation Exchange capacity (ECEC) and
Base Saturation 76 3.9.9 Statistical Analysis 76
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 Results 77
4.1 Pathogenicity Tests 77
4.2 Soil Physical and Chemicals Characteristics at Pre-planting
and Post-planting periods 80
4.3 Number of Tomato Leaves 81
4.4 Tomato Height (CM) 90
4.5 Tomato Leaf Area 98
4.6 Number of Days to First Flowering 105
4.6.1 Number of Tomato Flowers 110
4.7 Tomato Yield 116
4.8 Tomato Wilt Disease Incidence 120
4.9 Tomato Wilt Disease Severity 128
4.10 Tomato Leaf Spot Disease Incidence (%) 137
4.11 Tomato Leaf Spot Disease Severity 142
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0 Discussion 148
5.1 Effect of Mulching materials and Tomato cultivars on the
Physical and chemical properties of the Soil 148
5.2 Effect of mulch materials, tomato cultivars, Plant extracts, plant density and intercropping on the growth parameters of tomato 149 5.3 Effect of mulch material on the day to flowering and number
Of flower of tomato 152
5.4 Effects of mulch materials tomato cultivars, plant extracts, plant density and inter-cropping the on the yield attributes of tomato 154
5.5 Effects of mulch materials and tomato cultivars on the disease
incidence and severity of tomato 156
5.6 Effect of Plant extracts and tomato cultivars on the wilt disease
incidence and severity of tomato 159
5.7 Effect of plant spacing/density and inter cropping on the tomato
wilt disease incidence and severity 161
5.8 Effect of Plant extracts, Tomato Cultivars, Plant spacing/density
And intercropping on leaf spot disease incidence and severity 164
CHAPTER SIX
6.0 Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation 166
6.1 Summary and Conclusion 166 6.2 Recommendation 173
References 175
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Historical Background and Economic Importance of Tomato
Tomato Lycpersicon esculentum MILL is a plant in Solanaceae (or night shaded) family. The early history of tomato is not known with certainty. It appears to have originated in tropical America probably in Mexico or in Peru (Gould, 1983). The western coast of South America in present day Peru was where eight species of tomato genus were considered to grow wild in the Andes Mountains, the principal mountains of South America and one of the greatest mountain systems of the world
(Raymond, 2007).
Tomato belongs to the genus, Lycopersicon, and in the family, Solanaceae or night shade. The family also includes crops and garden plants, such as potato, tobacco, egg plant, petunia, as well as many poisonous plants. Some of the species and their common names include, L. esculentum esculentum (tomato), L. esculentum cerasiforme (Cherry tomato), L. pimpinellifolium (currant tomato). The resemblance between leaves and flowers of potato plants validates the taxonomic grouping of tomato. Botanically, tomato fruit is a berry, consisting of seeds distributed within a fleshy pericarp developed from an ovary. The name tomato also refers to the fruit of the plant, once thought to be poisonous, tomatoes have become one of the most widely grown and commercially important vegetable
crops.
The numerous varieties differ greatly in plant form and fruit type, the latter ranging from a small currant size through cherry plum, and pear forms to the large, nearly round fruits, 10 cm or more widely grown. (Raymond, 2007). All forms include red – and yellow – fruited varieties. Tomatoes are a valuable source of food minerals and vitamins, particularly vitamins A and C. Fresh tomato fruit contains carbohydrates, 4g, water 95g. Tomato is ranked the 16th among all fruits and vegetables as a source of vitamin A; 13th in vitamin C, and when adjusted for consumption, the most important provider of these two vitamins in the diet. In addition, studies have shown that people who eat large amount of tomatoes or tomato products may be at lower risk of some kinds of cancer, especially cancer of the prostate gland, lung and stomach.
Tomato grows best in well-drained soils that are well supplied with organic matters. Sandy soils are suited for early production. Tomatoes do best in well – fertilized, sandy loams, but they can also grow well in almost any type of fertile; well – drained soil. Shelter from wind is important especially for early production.
Tomatoes can be direct – seeded or transplanted as seedlings. Direct seeding is used if soil moisture and temperature favour rapid germination and if mechanical harvesters are used. Tomato growers with a shorter growing season and most home gardens employ transplant seedlings.
The production of tomato, both on small scale or in commercial, quantity is fraught with some pathological problems. These factors can cause rapid deterioration and spoilage of the produce during post-harvest operations. The diseases are caused by either bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasitic flowering plants nematodes and adverse environmental conditions. Bacterial disease are marked by various symptoms, including soft rot, leaf spot, wilt of leaves and stems, canker, leaf and twig blight, and gall formation. Bacterial disease, like, bacterial wilt, is caused by Pseudomonas solonacearum which is a soil-borne bacterium, affecting the roots and stems of the plant; bacterial canker, caused by Corynebacterium michiganense, which is seed-borne, forming cankers on the stems and petioles.
Viruses cause a wide range of host reactions as to the bacteria and fungi. Typical symptoms of viral infections include mosaic patterns, yellowing of foliage, vein clearing, ring spot, stunting and premature death, malformations and over growth. Some of the important virus diseases of tomato include tomato ring spot virus, alfalfa mosaic virus, tobacco leaf curl, tomato yellow mosaic, etc. virus diseases are infectious and are transmitted largely by vectors, including insects and nematodes. Control of these organisms is the best means of reducing the disease incidence.
One example of a parasitic plant that attacks tomato is broomrape (Orobanche ramose). Having no green foliage, broomrapes fasten themselves to the roots of other plants and eventually destroy them by taking their nutrients.
Nematodes or roundworms are an important cause of disease in tomato plants. These include root-knot nematodes, which cause fleshy root knots or galls on tomato roots.
Non-parasitic diseases of tomatoes attributable to adverse environmental conditions are numerous and include many of economic importance. These include blossom end-rot, chilling injury, cat-facing, growth cracks etc.
The majority of plant diseases are incited by fungi. Fungi can infect all parts of tomato plant; including leaves, stems, flowers, roots, and fruit. The physical manifestations in tomato include wilting, root rot, cankers, various types of mildews, blights, lesions and leaf spots. The effects of fungal diseases can be devastating. Some fungal diseases on tomato plant include Fusarium and verticillium wilts. The pathogens respectively implicated include F. oxysporum sp. lycopersici and V. dahlia.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
There are many constraints in the production of tomato in Owerri. This statement is in accordance with personal communication with few local farmers and other people in Owerri. Some of these limiting factors border on the pathological aspects, which are prevalent in the study area (personal communication). These diseases are those chiefly caused by fungi, bacteria and viruses, leading to common and serious tomato problems. However, in addition, there are non-parasitic factors that militate against the production of tomato. These include unfavourable environmental conditions, such as excessive moisture or drought, extremes of temperatures, and lack or excess of certain mineral elements.
These problems have resulted to little or no production of the crop in the area. Consequently, farmers, sellers and buyers have consistently and solely depended on the purchases from other major production zones of the country, mainly the northern parts. Transportation costs and hazard further constitute serious threats to their lives and profitability from the tomato business. These problems could be drastically reduced if not totally eliminated when the crop is produced within the geographical areas of the South east of the country, thereby enhancing the chances of more economic and financial returns.
Ploetz (2000) reported that fungicidal control of diseases was available, but was very expensive forms, with high risk of environmental pollution and human health hazards. Also, Thomason and Caswell, (1978) and Salako, (2002), reported the costly nature of synthetic chemical control of soil-borne pathogenic fungi and nematodes of crops, as being virtually unaffordable by many farmers. Anastasia et al. (1977) corroborated the foregoing, stating that many of these chemicals often have side or residual effect, such as soil toxicity, environmental and water pollution or poisoning of farmers during application. Several plant products have shown success in plant disease control and are known to be harmless, ecological friendly, non-phyto-toxic and readily available, unlike synthetic treatment chemicals. The extracts of these plants have been reported to exhibit market effects on the growth and development of fungi (Tang’an et al., 2002). It has also been found that the leaf extracts of certain plants exhibited nematostatic and nematicidal properties (Onifade and Fawole, 1996).
While significant progress has been made in breeding of improved cultivars of crops there is the increased cost of production using the improved cultivars. Thus, the search for new naturally derived, locally available, and environmentally friendly products to control diseases is an important part of sustainable agriculture (Sanchez et al., 2002). The antimicrobial effects of plants – bitter leaf (Vernomia amygdalina), neem leaf (Azadirachta indica), garlic (Allium sativium), ginger (Zingiber officinale), nchanwu (Ocimum viride), have been reported (Rembold,
(1989); Peter (2000); Nwufo and Emebiri (1988), Obilo, et al., (2005) and Obilor, (1998)).
The influence of cultural practices in the control of plant diseases has been studied. Such cultural measures include intercropping (a form of multiple cropping), use of plant extracts, plants spacing or plant densities. Some important reasons for intercropping include soil conservation, pest, weed, disease control and improvement of soil fertility. The adoption of control measures, such as cultural, biological, chemical and host plant resistance in several countries such as Brazil, USA, etc, resulted in increased performance of crops. In Nigeria, especially, south east, there is dearth of information on the effect of such cultural practices on the control of Fusarium wilt disease of tomato. Moreover, many reports about some of the cultural practices were directed on these effects on crop yields and yield attributes not on diseases, (Obasi et al., 2010 and Sokoto et al., 2010). It is this gap in knowledge that this research aims to fill.
1.3 Justification
There is therefore, the need to critically consider some of the limiting factors in the production of tomato in Owerri. This research will then focus on disease factors, particularly, fungal diseases prevalent in Owerri metropolis that hinder the production of tomato.
1.4 Objectives of Research
The objectives of the research are to:
- Isolate, characterize and identify the causal organisms associated with infected parts (roots, stems and leaves,) of tomato cultivars (ROMA VF, RIO
GRANDE and TROPIMECH).
- Determine if the isolated fungi are pathogenic;
- Determine the effects of some mulching materials (grass mulch, wood shavings and palm kernel shells) and some plant extracts (Basil/Sent plant leaves (Nchuanwu-Ocimum viride), ginger rhizome (Zingibar officinale), neem plant leaves (Azadirachta indica)) on wilt disease of tomato.
- Determine the effects of inter – cropping and plant spacing on incidence and severity of wilt disease of tomato.
- Determine the effects of mulch material, plant extracts, intercropping and plant spacing, interactions on tomato wilt disease.
EFFECTS OF SOME CULTURAL PRACTICES AND SOME PLANT EXTRACTS ON THE WILT DISEASE OF TOMATO (Lycopersicon esculentum MILL) GROWN IN OWERRI METROPOLIS IN IMO STATE, NIGERIA.
